SPELLING BEE UPDATE: “‘Appoggiatura’ was music to 13-year-old Anurag Kashyap’s ears. Correctly spelling the word that means melodic tone, he clinched the 2005 national spelling bee championship. . . . Tied for second place were 11-year-old Samir Patel, who is home-schooled in Colleyville, Texas, and Aliya Deri, 13, of Pleasanton, Calif.” Kind of reinforces this piece from last year.
UPDATE: Reader Joseph Sarles says that AP has it wrong: “An appoggiatura is not a melodic tone – it’s a dissonant embellishment that’s NOT part of the melody.”